The Raver’s Guide to Having an Unforgettable Rave Experience

What I have to say about attending raves is that it’s such an amazing experience with endless EDM and dancing. What I love is that there are basically no rules to what you wear to a rave (except certain clothing items that certain festivals might not allow, such as sharp studs). You can literally be wearing pasties and undies and no one gives a damn. You have the freedom to be and look whatever you want. Everyone is so happy and accepting of each other but you should still be careful of the many strange people out there.

Rave Wear: Since you can wear anything this is a chance to be creative.

Dress up as your favorite character, since you can be whatever you want. While Cindy and I attended our first Electric Daisy Carnival in 2014, we decided to dress up as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars. After finals, we headed to our local Michael’s to get whatever we needed and had so much fun DIYing our costumes with as many shiny rhinestones as possible.

DIY a bra. You don’t necessarily have to dress up as a character but it’s still incredibly fun to get crafty and create your own bra. Just pick a theme and try to recreate it, for example, Cindy went as a ringmaster for one of the days.

If you aren’t comfortable wearing a bra out in the open, wearing a fun tank and shorts is also an option. That was what I chose to do for one of the days because I was just a little lazy in deciding my outfit and wanted to be comfortable dancing around.

Light up anything and everything. When we think of raves, we think of LED lights. Literally, there are light up earrings, bracelets, shoes, headbands, you name it and rave stores probably got it. Light up stuff just makes your outfit 10x more fun.

Dress comfortably. You’ll be dancing all night, so you want to wear comfortable shoes. Don’t forget to check the weather before you go, you want to dress accordingly. If it’s hot and you’re going to be at EDC Las Vegas then you might not want to bundle up because it’s pretty much going to be hot for the majority of the time. If you’re going to be raving at EDC New York, then you might want to bring a jacket, in case the temperatures drop at night.

Holographic Prints. These are my go to prints for EDM festivals since they match the electric and flashy atmosphere.

Kandi. A fun tradition for festivals is to trade kandi with new friends or old friends! PLUR – Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect <3

Rave Tips to Make it Out ALIVE!

Pick a place to meet with your group. Pick an EXACT spot. Don’t just say “Hey! We’ll meet up at the ferris wheel if anyone gets lost.” You don’t want to be circling around and getting lost while there are hundreds of people walking around. Reception is almost non-existent, so it’s best to plan beforehand.

Drink LOTS of water. Always stay hydrated.

Don’t bring anything you don’t want to lose. Usually these festivals have lockers where you can keep your valuables at.

Bring tissues! Sometimes the port-a-potty will run out of toilet paper real fast. Also, go to the back end of the port-a-potty because the lines here are usually shorter, and they are usually cleaner since most people are too lazy to walk all the way to the end.

Bring a power bank just in case! Your phone might run out of battery and it’s always great to have a backup if anything happens or you get lost from your group.